Spinner England's star turn once more

Monty Panesar will benefit from the free and imaginative leadership of Peter Moores

A recent conversation with Martyn Moxon, the Yorkshire coach, would have made depressing listening for the members of a declining species known as the finger spinner. Admittedly, Moxon's views might have been tempered by the fact his own squad includes four leg-spinners, including two highly promising young English bowlers in Adil Rashid and Mark Lawson.

The backdrop to Moxon's thoughts was a County Championship match at the Rose Bowl between Yorkshire and Hampshire, in which 130 overs and three balls of spin were bowled in a four-day draw, all by wrist spinners. Moxon's theory was that in the age of heavy bats, short boundaries and four-run-an-over Tests, the orthodoxies of the finger spinner are no longer enough. "The batsmen's view of the finger spinner is more aggressive now," he said. "Gone are the days when the finger spinner could make a massive impact on the game. Daniel Vettori, Monty Panesar,